Uzvārdi ar fizioģeogrāfiskas (paaugstināta reljefa) semantikas etimonu

<p><strong>SURNAMES OF GEOGRAPHICAL(ELEVATED TERRAIN) ORIGIN</strong></p><p><em>Summary</em></p><p>The focus of the study is on Latvian personal names, which are coined on the the basis of Latvian apellative lexis. Personal names coined from the lexemes of the respective language, i.e., unborrowed anthroponyms, were chosen for comparison (in the Estonian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and German language).</p><p>There are many surnames of geographical origin (530 or 19.6% of all surnames of Latvian origin) in Latvian anthroponymic system and, according to their original meaning, they are very diverse: surnames, the etymon of which (a) indicates elevated or lowered terrain; (b) is connected to water courses and water bodies; (c) other surnames.</p><p class="Pa2">There are around 180 compound surnames with the second component -<em>kalns </em>ʻ-hill’ and 13 with the second component -<em>kalniņš </em>ʻ-small hill’ in the reverse dictionary of V. Staltmane’s monograph, e.g. <em>Rožkalns </em>(45), <em>Brīvkalns </em>(40), <em>Zaļkalns </em>(37).</p><p class="Pa2">In most cases these surnames have originated from homestead names or other topo­nyms, but calquing is also possible. There are several examples that show clear parallels between Latvian and Finno-Ugric languages, whereas the respective surname is not re­corded in the modern German language system (e.g., Latv. <em>Apškalns </em>‘hill of aspen trees’ – Est. <em>Haavamägi </em>(9), <em>Haavamäe </em>(11) – Finn. <em>Haapamäki </em>– German <em>*Espenberg</em>).</p><p class="Pa2">There are several surnames of geographical origin recorded only in Latvian: <em>Ābelskalns </em>‘apple-tree hill’ (3), <em>Dzintarkalns </em>‘amber hill’ (1), etc.</p><p>This semantic sub-group of geographical etymons is extensively represented in Finn­ish and Estonian surname system. There are many compound surnames, which do not have analogues in the Latvian language, among them – <em>Etelämäki </em>‘south hill’, <em>Tuisku­vaara </em>‘blizzard hill’.</p><p class="Pa2">On the other hand, in German there are compound surnames with the second com­ponent <em>-berg</em>, which does not occur in Latvian, e.g. <em>Brandberg </em>‘fire hill’, <em>Schneeberg </em>‘snow hill’, etc.</p><p>One can conclude that surnames of such semantic origin occur much more rarely in the Lithuanian, Polish and Russian languages, and there are almost no compound sur­names including a lexeme with the meaning ‘hill’. There are clear parallels in the anthro­ponymic systems of Latvian and its closest Finno-Ugric neighbours (Estonian and Finn­ish). The influence of the German language is clearly seen in the structure of Latvian (as well as Estonian) surnames; however, it is not as extensive as it is usually suggested.</p

Space station power semiconductor package

A package of high-power switching semiconductors for the space station have been designed and fabricated. The package includes a high-voltage (600 volts) high current (50 amps) NPN Fast Switching Power Transistor and a high-voltage (1200 volts), high-current (50 amps) Fast Recovery Diode. The package features an isolated collector for the transistors and an isolated anode for the diode. Beryllia is used as the isolation material resulting in a thermal resistance for both devices of .2 degrees per watt. Additional features include a hermetical seal for long life -- greater than 10 years in a space environment. Also, the package design resulted in a low electrical energy loss with the reduction of eddy currents, stray inductances, circuit inductance, and capacitance. The required package design and device parameters have been achieved. Test results for the transistor and diode utilizing the space station package is given

Separations in Query Complexity Based on Pointer Functions

In 1986, Saks and Wigderson conjectured that the largest separation between deterministic and zero-error randomized query complexity for a total boolean function is given by the function $f$ on $n=2^k$ bits defined by a complete binary tree of NAND gates of depth $k$, which achieves $R_0(f) = O(D(f)^{0.7537\ldots})$. We show this is false by giving an example of a total boolean function $f$ on $n$ bits whose deterministic query complexity is $\Omega(n/\log(n))$ while its zero-error randomized query complexity is $\tilde O(\sqrt{n})$. We further show that the quantum query complexity of the same function is $\tilde O(n^{1/4})$, giving the first example of a total function with a super-quadratic gap between its quantum and deterministic query complexities. We also construct a total boolean function $g$ on $n$ variables that has zero-error randomized query complexity $\Omega(n/\log(n))$ and bounded-error randomized query complexity $R(g) = \tilde O(\sqrt{n})$. This is the first super-linear separation between these two complexity measures. The exact quantum query complexity of the same function is $Q_E(g) = \tilde O(\sqrt{n})$. These two functions show that the relations $D(f) = O(R_1(f)^2)$ and $R_0(f) = \tilde O(R(f)^2)$ are optimal, up to poly-logarithmic factors. Further variations of these functions give additional separations between other query complexity measures: a cubic separation between $Q$ and $R_0$, a $3/2$-power separation between $Q_E$ and $R$, and a 4th power separation between approximate degree and bounded-error randomized query complexity. All of these examples are variants of a function recently introduced by \goos, Pitassi, and Watson which they used to separate the unambiguous 1-certificate complexity from deterministic query complexity and to resolve the famous Clique versus Independent Set problem in communication complexity.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures. Version 3 improves separation between Q_E and R_0 and updates reference

Privatrenten als (un)geeignetes Instrument der Altersvorsorge?

Die von Lebensversicherungen angebotenen Privatrententarife können einen Inflationsschutz nicht garantieren. Die effektive garantierte Beitragsrendite lag in der vorliegenden Untersuchung von 48 Versicherungstarifen bei lediglich 1,02 Prozent und bei den Marktführern sogar nur bei 0,94 Prozent. Verantwortlich hierfür sind erhebliche Kosten, deren Ausmaß dem Kunden in der Regel verborgen bleibt. Er findet im gesetzlich vorgeschriebenen Produktinformationsblatt keine Gesamtsumme der anfallenden Kosten, sondern nur Teilbeträge, die sich auf jeweils unterschiedliche Zeiträume beziehen. Auch die von vielen Versicherern verwendete „Gesamtkostenquote“ ist missverständlich und untertreibt die tatsächlichen Kosten. Die Analyse der durch Kosten verursachten Einbußen, der „Reduction in Wealth“, ergab bei einem Modellvertrag mit Einzahlungen von insgesamt 48 000 Euro allein in der Ansparphase einen durchschnittlichen „Schaden“ von 10 105 Euro. Die „Reduction in Wealth“ macht den „Schaden“ durch Kosten in einer einzigen Kennziffer deutlich. Sie ist deshalb in der Reformdiskussion um ein verbessertes Produktinformationsblatt der gegenwärtig favorisierten Gesamtkostenquote vorzuziehen.Pension products offered by life insurance companies to individual customers are no safe protection against inflation. In a survey we tested 48 pension products. The average garanteed return after 40 years was 1.02 percent. The average garanteed return of the tested products offered by big players was even lower: 0.94 percent. The main reasons for this weak performance are high costs. The extent of these cost disadvantages is invisible for customers. There is no insurance company providing clear information on total costs in the Product Information Sheet („Produktinformationsblatt“). The companies use a new figure calculated on a concept of „yield reduction“ called „Gesamtkostenquote“. The name is misleading. It unfortunately guides the customers to underestimate the real amount of costs. In our survey we used a concept of „reduction of wealth“ to uncover the real amount of costs the pension contracts carry. The average loss for the customers is 10,105 Euro. This concept is rather than the „Gesamtkostenquote“ able to uncover the real impact of costs. Therefore we prefer to implement the “reduction of wealth“ as a compulsery figure in a rebuilt „Produktinformationsblatt“